Does football operate in a parallel universe? I ask because none of the usual rules which govern the rest of us seem to apply.

One employee assaults another and yet somehow avoids being sacked for gross misconduct - a penalty that would apply in any other walk of life.

The assault is witnessed by 52,000 people and more than a handful of police officers yet none bother to wander over and apply the handcuffs.

I don't know how much Newcastle United pay in policing costs, but if I was Freddy Shepherd I would demand a refund! The Lee Bowyer-Kieron Dyer punch-up at the weekend dragged football back into the gutter.

Judging by the TV pictures, Dyer appears to be the innocent party, only raising his fists in self-defence - although I can't see his red card and three-match ban being overturned by the FA.

As for Bowyer, he shamed himself, his club and his profession.

His £200,000 club fine is a pointless punishment. Shepherd and Graeme Souness should have thrown the book at him but instead Bowyer will just throw his chequebook at them.

A more fitting penalty would have been arrest followed by charges and a court appearance.

A fan brawling inside the ground would have been subject to that kind of treatment and, if convicted, would have faced a lengthy ban from all football stadia as a result.

Why should a player be treated any differently? Bowyer has been in trouble before on numerous occasions and can count himself lucky that Newcastle were prepared to throw his career a lifeline when his short and unimpressive spell with West Ham had come to an end.

He fell foul of foul of football's anti-drugs rules early in his career, has been involved in two court cases - resulting in one conviction and one acquittal - and now he is in trouble again.

Bowyer has used up his stock of last chances.

Newcastle United do not need people like him and neither does football.